The purpose of the subject invention, which is called the Wicks Combined Cycle Engine (WCCE), is to teach a method for a much more fuel efficient engine for automobiles and other engine driven processes. The technique is to recover virtually all of the reject heat from the traditional type liquid cooled internal combustion piston engine for use in a vapor or Rankine Cycle type engine.
Virtually all automobiles and busses, and most trains and ships, are powered by liquid cooled internal combustion engines, in which the combustion products are also the working fluid. These engines can generally be defined as spark plug ignition Otto Cycles or compression heat ignited Diesel Cycles.
The nominal energy balance on these engines is the conversion of about 25% of the fuel energy to mechanical power, and the remaining 75% is rejected as heat, with typical values of 45% of the fuel energy in the exhaust and 30% by the liquid cooling system through the radiator.
The subject system uses a Rankine Cycle in a manner in which virtually all of this rejected heat from the exhaust and from the liquid cooling system is recovered and utilized. The subsequent analysis will show an increase of efficiency from 25% from a traditional liquid cooled internal combustion engine to 43% for the subject Wicks Combined Cycle Engine.
Thus, if an automobile obtains 40 miles per gallon with the existing internal combustion engine, it can increase to 68.8 miles per gallon with the WCCE.